In Reponse To "Listen to the Natives":
I think that Prensky gets a bit ahead of himself in this article. Yes, we should certainly be listening to our students and learning about their digital culture as they share their point of view. However, it is unnecessary to learn about many of the digital functions "out there" in order to educate our students. Students will still want connection with people, and that is a need that teachers can meet (whether or not they moonlight as Ebay novelty merchants). If anything, the technological gap is an opportunity for connection with students. Teachers can help their students put technology in perspective, and help students to not be enveloped by the far reaching tentacles of this digital age.
I'm becoming more indignant of this digital age, as it seems to encourage distant relationships instead of intimate friendships. We have so low expectations for community and friendship. And this may not all be at fault of computers, but the combination of a weak human nature with computers.
Prensky thinks we should integrate students' use of video games into education? This may be helpful to a point, but many students are wasting their young lives in fabricated worlds of pixels and gigabytes. Discussion of video games may well be facilitated around the topic of unhealthy escapism.
Hopefully we do not adopt Prensky's anxiety concerning communicating with youth. It may well trip up good interaction with students.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Session Three: The Occasional Crutch of PowerPoint
1. What do you think the author means by powerpointlessness?
It seems the author was pointing out a problem among educators, leaders, and speakers; PowerPoint is sometimes used as a bland smorgasboard of information that is redundant to the main message of the PowerPoint user. Often times, the PowerPoint can distract from a central message that appropriately complimenting the message. Things such as cheesy clip art, cheesy sound clips, and animation can be superfluously added only to bore the audience. Sometimes, a teacher may try avoid classroom engagement by funneling all interaction through PowerPoint slides. And in explaining these PowerPoint tragedies, Jamie McKenzie points out that a useful tool such as PowerPoint can easily become pointless. Clearly, the author thinks that there is positive use of PowerPoint, but sometimes those positive uses are degraded by misappropriation of PowerPoint's features.
2. Have you ever witnessed powerpointlessness? How then, according to Jamie McKenzie, can we teach students to learn to think and communicate thoughtfully with PowerPoint?
Unfortunately, I too have been the victim of powerpointlessness. I have been subjected to sermons, classroom lessons, and seminars of powerpointlessness. That might sound a bit exaggerated, but it describes the sudden realization one has when a speaker or presenter starts to read (verbatim) from each powerpoint slide. Sometimes the presenter will give you five minutes to stare at one map. Other times, a presenter may snicker or giggle at the animated functions they have inserted into the powerpoint.
The horror of that those first few moments of a powerpointless presentation are awful. One suddenly starts to look for other things to do between quickly reading each slide, since silently reading the slide occurs much more quickly than the presenter who reads aloud and then fumbles around on the keyboard to mismanage the next slide. And because presenter wants to go through every carefully crafted slide that they produced, human interaction and conversation are usually quickly suppressed by the presenter. Its really just a waste of everybody's time.
McKenzie presents some practical advice to avoid these pitfalls of PowerPoint use. She explains that PowerPoint is really secondary to the speaker himself. If the presenter makes poor eye contact or cannot project his voice in an effective manner, PowerPoint will not help the situation. In so many words, the presentation should remain an interaction between humans. Presenters should carefully select content (text, pictures, video, etc.) for the slides, and make sure that they are appropriately engaging for the intended audience.
Depth and complexity should maintained throughout the presentation, with a focus kept on the main topic. Transitions (a blend of both speaking and slides) should help to tie ideas together, instead of randomly bunching together various concepts of the presentation. Ideas should be backed up with evidence, but should be conveyed in concise verbage (or as McKenzie wrote, "distilled words." Design criteria is important, and effort should be put into the overall effect of a PowerPoint slide that will be supplementing the focal point of a message.
Overall, McKenzie raised a very good point. Too many presenters use PowerPoint as a crutch for their insecurities or weaknesses in public speaking/ classroom interaction. However, this does not need to be the case! PowerPoint can indeed be used productively, and a brief series of pointers can help to avoid the common tragedy of powerpointlessness.
It seems the author was pointing out a problem among educators, leaders, and speakers; PowerPoint is sometimes used as a bland smorgasboard of information that is redundant to the main message of the PowerPoint user. Often times, the PowerPoint can distract from a central message that appropriately complimenting the message. Things such as cheesy clip art, cheesy sound clips, and animation can be superfluously added only to bore the audience. Sometimes, a teacher may try avoid classroom engagement by funneling all interaction through PowerPoint slides. And in explaining these PowerPoint tragedies, Jamie McKenzie points out that a useful tool such as PowerPoint can easily become pointless. Clearly, the author thinks that there is positive use of PowerPoint, but sometimes those positive uses are degraded by misappropriation of PowerPoint's features.
2. Have you ever witnessed powerpointlessness? How then, according to Jamie McKenzie, can we teach students to learn to think and communicate thoughtfully with PowerPoint?
Unfortunately, I too have been the victim of powerpointlessness. I have been subjected to sermons, classroom lessons, and seminars of powerpointlessness. That might sound a bit exaggerated, but it describes the sudden realization one has when a speaker or presenter starts to read (verbatim) from each powerpoint slide. Sometimes the presenter will give you five minutes to stare at one map. Other times, a presenter may snicker or giggle at the animated functions they have inserted into the powerpoint.
The horror of that those first few moments of a powerpointless presentation are awful. One suddenly starts to look for other things to do between quickly reading each slide, since silently reading the slide occurs much more quickly than the presenter who reads aloud and then fumbles around on the keyboard to mismanage the next slide. And because presenter wants to go through every carefully crafted slide that they produced, human interaction and conversation are usually quickly suppressed by the presenter. Its really just a waste of everybody's time.
McKenzie presents some practical advice to avoid these pitfalls of PowerPoint use. She explains that PowerPoint is really secondary to the speaker himself. If the presenter makes poor eye contact or cannot project his voice in an effective manner, PowerPoint will not help the situation. In so many words, the presentation should remain an interaction between humans. Presenters should carefully select content (text, pictures, video, etc.) for the slides, and make sure that they are appropriately engaging for the intended audience.
Depth and complexity should maintained throughout the presentation, with a focus kept on the main topic. Transitions (a blend of both speaking and slides) should help to tie ideas together, instead of randomly bunching together various concepts of the presentation. Ideas should be backed up with evidence, but should be conveyed in concise verbage (or as McKenzie wrote, "distilled words." Design criteria is important, and effort should be put into the overall effect of a PowerPoint slide that will be supplementing the focal point of a message.
Overall, McKenzie raised a very good point. Too many presenters use PowerPoint as a crutch for their insecurities or weaknesses in public speaking/ classroom interaction. However, this does not need to be the case! PowerPoint can indeed be used productively, and a brief series of pointers can help to avoid the common tragedy of powerpointlessness.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Technology Puts Some Spring In Bloom's Steps
How can technology help develop higher order thinking and problem solving skills?
In accordance with Ben Bloom's thoughts on higher order thinking, computer technology can help increase the speed of learning. This comes not just through accumulating many electronic references, but rather encourages the development of the whole thought process. Bloom teaches that once knowledge is attained, one should be able to comprehend the nuances of that knowledge. And once the content is comprehended, the next step is to apply that knowledge in some fashion. In addition to application, one should be able to analyze that data or information which the student has come to comprehend. Can the student see trends, patterns, or discrepancies in the content presented?
Next, can new ideas be put together from the comprehension, application, and analysis of the given information? And finally, can one use standards to evaluate the data?
Given Bloom's ideas, computers can greatly increase the speed and means by which one will learn using Bloom's different criteria. Given interactive games and quizzing materials, students can quickly be tested of comprehension. Given online productivity tools (such as blogs, image sharing, photo caches, etc), students can apply the knowledge to creative projects to illustrate that which they are learning. In sharing one's online creations or test results, students can quickly analyze their applications of knowledge. A student need not leave his seat at the computer to compare his current project to past projects or lessons. In this, students can quickly discover trends in lesson-work. It is important to note that the student must still be learning to put forth effort to learn, but the computer is making the process very efficient.
While it might have taken students a week to proceed through Bloom's steps in former days of education, a student can easily pace through Bloom's steps in an afternoon, if not one class period. Many tools and resources are compiled into a single machine (computer) for a single user, and can present a wide range of challenges and learning experiences on one screen.
In accordance with Ben Bloom's thoughts on higher order thinking, computer technology can help increase the speed of learning. This comes not just through accumulating many electronic references, but rather encourages the development of the whole thought process. Bloom teaches that once knowledge is attained, one should be able to comprehend the nuances of that knowledge. And once the content is comprehended, the next step is to apply that knowledge in some fashion. In addition to application, one should be able to analyze that data or information which the student has come to comprehend. Can the student see trends, patterns, or discrepancies in the content presented?
Next, can new ideas be put together from the comprehension, application, and analysis of the given information? And finally, can one use standards to evaluate the data?
Given Bloom's ideas, computers can greatly increase the speed and means by which one will learn using Bloom's different criteria. Given interactive games and quizzing materials, students can quickly be tested of comprehension. Given online productivity tools (such as blogs, image sharing, photo caches, etc), students can apply the knowledge to creative projects to illustrate that which they are learning. In sharing one's online creations or test results, students can quickly analyze their applications of knowledge. A student need not leave his seat at the computer to compare his current project to past projects or lessons. In this, students can quickly discover trends in lesson-work. It is important to note that the student must still be learning to put forth effort to learn, but the computer is making the process very efficient.
While it might have taken students a week to proceed through Bloom's steps in former days of education, a student can easily pace through Bloom's steps in an afternoon, if not one class period. Many tools and resources are compiled into a single machine (computer) for a single user, and can present a wide range of challenges and learning experiences on one screen.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Mike's First Ever Sizzling Blog For ED5210
1. All bit about you.
Well, I was born on a snowy night in a tiny yurt on a vast tundra plain in northern Canada. Actually, I was born in a suburb of Chicago in 1980. I am country boy, but for some reason the Lord planted me in the 'burbs. Following my season in the 'burbs, I attended Taylor University in Indiana for 3 1/2 years. I then moved to Wisconsin, where I worked at a youth ranch for almost 5 years.
I really enjoyed getting a taste of life outside of the suburbs. The bounty of fields and trees give constant reminder of a God who loves growing things. I am thankful for my current health, and enjoy keeping in shape (running, working out, sports, etc.). Other interests include photography, reading, writing, and hanging out with people. I sometimes wish I could relive my educational career, though I appreciate the current season of life. I have really liked being in class again. I am looking forward to learning more about educational technology.
2. Why you want to be a teacher.
At my place of employment in Wisconsin, I was exposed to many teachers who were influential in life decisions of their students. The holistic approach of education is appealing to me, as I have the privilege to help shape students' worldviews.
3. Your technology proficiency or comfort level. Describe ways you regularly use computers, computer peripherals (such as digital cameras, scanners, CD burners) and the internet both for your personal and professional use.
I am fairly comfortable with most popular technology. I haven't had access to a scanner for sometime since I haven't been able to afford one. I own a Mac, so it does most of the computing and "thinking" for me. I recognize that I will need to be familiar with the many maladies and shortcomings of the PC for future educational experiences.
4. Expectations for this class. (anticipation of, concerns, etc.)
I hope to learn about tools that are practical for introducing concepts and ideas to students in future classroom experiences.
Well, I was born on a snowy night in a tiny yurt on a vast tundra plain in northern Canada. Actually, I was born in a suburb of Chicago in 1980. I am country boy, but for some reason the Lord planted me in the 'burbs. Following my season in the 'burbs, I attended Taylor University in Indiana for 3 1/2 years. I then moved to Wisconsin, where I worked at a youth ranch for almost 5 years.
I really enjoyed getting a taste of life outside of the suburbs. The bounty of fields and trees give constant reminder of a God who loves growing things. I am thankful for my current health, and enjoy keeping in shape (running, working out, sports, etc.). Other interests include photography, reading, writing, and hanging out with people. I sometimes wish I could relive my educational career, though I appreciate the current season of life. I have really liked being in class again. I am looking forward to learning more about educational technology.
2. Why you want to be a teacher.
At my place of employment in Wisconsin, I was exposed to many teachers who were influential in life decisions of their students. The holistic approach of education is appealing to me, as I have the privilege to help shape students' worldviews.
3. Your technology proficiency or comfort level. Describe ways you regularly use computers, computer peripherals (such as digital cameras, scanners, CD burners) and the internet both for your personal and professional use.
I am fairly comfortable with most popular technology. I haven't had access to a scanner for sometime since I haven't been able to afford one. I own a Mac, so it does most of the computing and "thinking" for me. I recognize that I will need to be familiar with the many maladies and shortcomings of the PC for future educational experiences.
4. Expectations for this class. (anticipation of, concerns, etc.)
I hope to learn about tools that are practical for introducing concepts and ideas to students in future classroom experiences.
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